A Blast from a Shaman’s Past: Reflection & Reverence a Decade in the Making with My First Shamanic Healer, Sarah Seidelmann M.D.

As the first teacher I was divinely guided to, a decade ago, Sarah Bamford Seidelmann M.D. saw my shamanism begin to take root from my apartment in Brooklyn that looked out to a healing tree – my nature anchor for my initiation into my true self and to communicating with Mother Earth. Sarah was instrumental in my spiritual growth spurt, and shortly after our sessions together, I was shot out of the shamanic cannon. Her great care, shamanic abilities and support, alongside Great spirit, Great Mother Earth and all my other spiritual allies, held me as I flew to the great unknown. 

It was wildly profound for me as we reunite and reflect on where our shamanic journeys have taken us thus far. For Sarah, that began with a radical sabbatical from her “day job” as a certified physician, traveling to India to bathe in the Ganges during the Kumbh Mela festival, and returning to The States to fully embody her calling as a shamanic mentor through formal studies and other avenues.

Along the way, she’s authored six books and a card deck, the latter of which we will receive a reading from today. Like myself, Sarah blends her spiritual work with conscious entrepreneurship, and we discuss how we invite abundance into our lives without attachment to profit. We also discuss the wild journey of writing books.

We also dive deep into various Shamanic ceremony experiences, including Sarah sharing one of the most honest, hilarious and humbling ones I’ve ever heard.

Today’s episode is a celebration of two medicine women holding space for one another and celebrating the humbling, flawed, yet always beautiful ways shamanism expresses itself and reminds us of our humanity. 

The Ceremonial Offering

Sarah guides you on an extraordinary rainbow drumming journey where you will meet her and me in a beautiful yurt to meet your own creative spiritual ally: the key to unlocking your spiritual powers. 

We talk about:

  • Sarah’s experience as a physician for nearly 20 years

  • Soul retrieval - what it is and how it works 

  • Shamanic training & initiations

  • The role of elephant Alice and working with the spiritual realms

  • Transformational trips to India 

  • Her unique offerings 

  • A card reading from Sarah’s “How Good Are You Willing to Let it Get” Deck

  • Precise steps taken to pivot from a more traditional to esoteric career

  • The intensity of birthing a book into the world

  • Balancing shamanism and entrepreneurship

  • Liberating oneself from perfectionism  

  • Shamanic drumming ceremony 

Thanks to Star Animal Sundays for sponsoring this episode! This conscious jewelry brand is a powerful and fun way to tune into the shamanic teachings of the animal world. Head to staranimalsundays.com and use the code "STARPOWER!” at checkout to receive 3 eco-friendly meditation candles (worth $80). Using this code also donates 25% of sales to The Javari Project's Alternative Livelihoods program: a registered for-purpose organization working alongside a coalition of partners such as Cultural Sanctuaries and the indigenous communities of the Vale do Javari indigenous territory – one of the most pristine biodiverse areas in the world. ⁣It has an unparalleled diversity of plants and animals, and is home to the highest number of remote, uncontacted Indigenous Peoples known today⁣. The Javari Project and Cultural Sanctuaries identify and evaluate the current threats to the cultural and environmental assets of the Javari region to sustainably support their territorial rights, protect their livelihoods, and preserve their habitat. 

Resources:

Guest Bio:

A fourth-generation physician, Sarah Bamford Seidelmann M.D practiced as a board-certified physician specializing in Surgical Pathology at a tertiary care multispecialty group known for excellence in The Midwest. After almost twenty years, she felt a strong pull to do transformative work and be creative again.

In the past ten years, she has authored six books and created retreats in far-flung destinations such as Northern Thailand, Kauai, and right at home in The Midwest. She completed Martha Beck's coach training and master coach training, and now serves as an instructor for her company. She is a graduate of The Foundation for Shamanic Studies’ three year program and continues to train under esteemed human teachers on the medicinal path, with her own loving and compassionate spirits.

Alyson Charles